May 19, 2012

Lineker puts the boot in to Daily Star

Today's Daily Star carries a headline suggesting BBC football pundit Gary Lineker has branded the current England team "losers" in a "shock new interview":

The "shock new interview" was actually just the Daily Star lifting quotes from a Reader's Digest interview with Lineker in which the former onion-bag troubler joked that at least we'll all have the Olympics to look forward to should England disappoint at Euro 2012 as has become the norm in major tournaments.

"As England invariably let you down it's great to have the [Olympics] to look forward to..."

Lineker took offence at the Daily Star's front page distortion and shared his complaint with his 650,000 Twitter followers:

You have to admire the brassneck of the explanation: 'We only claimed you said it, we don't actually quote you saying it'. This unconvincing explanation was apparently followed by an apology.

Don't hold your breath Gary. And if it does appear it will be harder to find than a clip of Lineker scoring from outside the 18 yard box.